Two Bayonne High School students were allegedly caught cheating on their Advanced Placement test last month, a circumstance that has raised concern from a Jersey City Board of Education member.
The cheating was investigated two weeks ago and resulted in the suspension of two students for allegedly failing to comply with the school district’s policy on using technology.
A technician at Bayonne High School familiar with the situation said the students used school-issued Chrome netbooks to post the answers to a cloud-based platform, which meant almost anyone with access to the site also accessed the answers.
“That’s why training is needed,” said Jersey City Board of Education Trustee Gerald Lyons. “We had a problem at our school also. Someone didn’t follow the rules and a student took advantage of it. Unless those proctoring are properly trained and monitored, there will be an elevated chance of incidents of cheating occurring. There needs to be strong policies, procedures, and ramifications related to this issue.”
Bayonne students are asked to sign a “contract” about what is or is not allowed regarding devices such as computers or cell phones, according to Principal Richard Baccarella. One source said that the accusations affected some of the highest academic achievers in the current graduating class. To try to counter potential cheating, the high school tried creative strategies, such as offering different versions of tests to different classes. Baccarella, along with other administrators, paid frequent visits to classrooms.
“I asked that the JCBOE policy on phones be rewritten to include all electronic devices and that training be provided to all instructional/proctoring staff.” – Gerald Lyons
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“We went in as administrators to remind students of the importance of AP tests and how important they were on college acceptance and the impact they had on class ranking,” he said. “We also pointed out what is acceptable use of technology.”
A problem in Jersey City as well
At Bayonne High School, students who are allowed to use cell phones during break periods during the school day are required to sign the Acceptable Use Policy. The policy outlines websites that should not be accessed, and other uses of the phone.
While Jersey City has a cell phone policy, Lyons believes this needs to be modified to deal with other devices.
“I asked that the JCBOE policy on phones be rewritten to include all electronic devices and that training be provided to all instructional/proctoring staff,” Lyons said. “This wasn’t done. If it was, I didn’t hear about it.”
Lyons said he is pushing for changes to the policy.
“I have brought this twice at board meetings, even brought in a Smart Watch and eye glasses with built in video recorders to show them how easy it is and the need to address the policies on any electronic devices during testing,” he said. “Nothing was changed. With a smart watch, you can take pictures of every page of a test and post them online before the test is even over.”
Lyons, however, said the Bayonne incident may prompt Jersey City Board of Education to take additional action.
Bayonne waged a campaign against cheating
In waging the campaign against possible cheating, Baccarella said he felt comfortable that they had gotten the message through to the students. While he stopped short of saying two students were suspended for cheating, he did say suspensions were issued to students for violating the acceptable-use policy regarding the use of technology.
Baccarella said that the school’s investigation started about a month ago when a parent called about possible cheating. The school’s investigation was completed two weeks ago.
Schools Superintendent Patricia McGeehan said the suspensions were not directly connected to cheating, and that there was no direct breach in the security of any test.
Baccarella said that while the investigation of cheating was closed, the oversight on such matters continues. “We never stop paying attention to it,” he said. “We’re always on high alert. We’ll be on alert for that going forward.”
But others questioned about possible cheating said they were aware of it happening.
“I only remember two instances of brazen cheaters aided by their phones, but I don’t remember it being a heavily prevalent issue,” said a former BHS student. “But then again, I graduated in 2008, so I’m sure things have changed.”
Another student said it is a common practice for some Advanced Placement students to write papers for friends at BHS as a favor, or do so for profit.
Starts innocently
Baccarella said students often start out with the best of intentions, sharing information about lessons. In the past, study groups would meet in places like the school library. These days they join chat rooms, which could have 15 to 20 people in them.
“When they start out as a study group, they mean well; share information to help each other,” he said. “At the same time, there is a fine line between using it as a study aid and using this to give someone else an advantage.”
The challenge in dealing with this is that it involves privacy rights – as the current national debate shows between Apple and the FBI over decrypting a phone used by terrorists.
“Phones are private property,” Baccarella said. “We can’t confiscate them. We can’t spy on them.”
Al Sullivan may be reached at asullivan@hudsonreporter.com.